The following four films highlight significant changes in our society from our daily lives to our social interactions. Technology is fast becoming an extension of our limbs; consuming our minds and perceptions of reality. We are no longer a part of nature, but rather a cog in the machine.
I, Loneliness Gadget, directed by Can Eren, is a short film of about thirteen minutes depicting an average, middle-aged man in search of companionship through simulation gadgets advertised on television. His monotonous life in his apartment consists of waking up, eating baked beans out of a can, watching TV all day in the same clothes, and falling asleep throughout the day. His life seems nothing to be behold.
This is most definitely a comment on our current culture; although there are billions of people on this Earth, we are lonelier than ever. People are in search of a connection, affection, or merely a simple conversation all across the technology front. Whether that means chatting to a bot or downloading an app to find people to sleep with; this is now our reality.
Our protagonist, buys a ‘Pet Human’ that was advertised on TV; a young boy emerges from the delivery box. He finds small pleasure in the company, but soon realizes that he requires far too much care and energy, and so leaves him in an open field somewhere. Ironically, we see a few young boys wandering the same fields, suggesting many owners have done the same before him. Another pretty obvious comment on our culture; laziness. We crave many things, but when it requires responsibility or a lot of time and energy, unfortunately that is too much to ask.
Inside, directed by Mattis Dovier, although only three minutes, this short film has so much to offer. Inside is completely animated in 8-bit; a monochrome ‘sketch’ animation. It tells the story of a man’s agonizing transformation into a robot, detailing his every emotion and physical changes with narration.
Quite like the message behind I, loneliness Gadget, the narrator in Inside describes this transformation as the last step in human evolution; losing touch with nature once and for all to become a machine. As a race, this is happening now, before our eyes. We are so out of touch with organic interactions, our lives and our futures will entail nothing but media and simulation.
Hyper Reality, directed by Keiichi Matsuda, gives us a view into this future and what our day-to-day lives may entail. A middle-aged woman named Juliana lives a day in this ‘hyper reality’ where, media rules everything. She is consumed with constant entertainment, advertisements, calls and messages, but most importantly, her ‘points’.
Much like our Instagram ‘likes’, Juliana feels gratification from these ‘points’ she collects for buying various things, or using public transport etc. These ‘achievements’ gives us euphoria, as it makes us feel like we are accomplishing something but in fact we are simply being distracted from reality. Likes, points, whatever you may call them, are nothing but thin air; instant gratification that fizzles out in seconds, never truly making us happy.
Binary Love, directed by Ewan Golder, is a more abstract look into our future where an app helps you find your ‘perfect match; via your dreams. This short film of about thirteen minutes has us constantly wondering what is reality and what is a dream. Much like Hyper Reality, the characters are in somewhat of a simulated experience, although it is a love story, we are not sure if it really happened or they simply dreamed it.
The last line in the synopsis of this film reads, ‘Share your drive with me, let our data streams merge, and what ever you do, never log off.’
Never log off.
About the author
Megan, a young South African, recently left teaching English in South Korea and is now a travel enthusiast who is currently focusing on releasing an organic, vegan and zero-waste cosmetic brand. She is interested in exploring environmental changes and how that influences humankind. Her brand focuses on making as little waste as possible and tries to provide waste-free solutions for her customers. Megan is also a hand-poke tattoo artist in her spare time.
